10 Rare Wrestling Contract Clauses You Never Knew

CM Punk’s pipebomb promo on Raw from 2011 is considered so legendary and was so viciously honest because Punk genuinely believed he was leaving WWE as soon as his contract expired a few weeks later at Money in the Bank. He was sick and tired of being under-appreciated and overlooked in WWE.

This promo catapulted Punk into becoming the hottest commodity in all of professional wrestling. So at Money in the Bank, WWE caved into Punk’s demands so they could sign him to an extension that was worth a lot more money. One stipulation Punk put in his new contract was that he would immediately ditch the Killswitch Engage theme he’d been coming to the ring with for years and instead use Living Colour’s anthem Cult of Personality.

The song appealed more to Punk’s roots and helped cement him as a main eventer, with the opening guitar riff getting fans on their feet in excitement whenever it would hit. Punk confirmed this in numerous interviews and even as recent as 2020 in a tweet replying to Living Colour thanking him for choosing it as his theme song, writing ‘Was my little league team song in 89. Used it in @ringofhonor in 05. In 11 I gave em no choice. Even rocked it in @ufc. It’s been a crazy life, thanks for helping with the soundtrack!!!’